Meet the D&AD Impact Council

The D&AD Impact Council is made up of senior figures from across the creative, social entrepreneur, Venture Capital and NGO space and exists to support and represent D&AD Impact’s mission to drive creativity that powers change.

Deborah Alden

DirectorCultureOS Deployment, WeWork

Deborah is a design strategist, venture advisor, and educator with a penchant for blurring the line between for-profit and purpose-driven organizations. A habitual problem solver and doer with a strong EQ, she helps people and systems innovate, grow, and change.

Approaching 20 years of experience incubating offerings, shaping organizations and culture, and building bridges, her work has ranged from innovation and brand consulting for Fortune 100 companies to establishing new models for business and education. She's had the privilege of advising hundreds of inspiring entrepreneurs and leading the design and development of four purposeful organizations—most recently, as the Founding Managing Director of the Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator, an initiative of Pratt Institute focused on supporting ethical design entrepreneurs.

A frequent guest critic and facilitator, she has taught human-centered design and research at IIT Institute of Design, CEDIM in México, and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, where she was the Inaugural Chair for the BFA in Visual Communication. She is regularly invited to speak globally including SXSW, TEDx, Icograda World Design Congress, ASODI Congreso Interiorismo, and Tallinn Design Week.

Andrea Alvares

Chief Marketing, Innovation & Sustainability OfficerNatura

Andrea Álvares is Chief Marketing, Innovation and Sustainability Officer and member of the Executive Committee for Natura (Brazilian based Cosmetics&Fragrances company, operating across Latin America with presence in Europe and the US and the world´s largest industrial BCorp).
Andrea is board member of Ethos and Akatu Institutes. She is also an active member of Brazilian Network of Leading Women in Sustainability and Women of Brazil among other female empowerment initiatives.
Prior to Natura, she held General Manager, Marketing and Strategy roles at Pepsico and P&G.
Andrea has been awarded Forbes Most Influential Women in Brazil, Advertising Age Women to Watch and Top 10 Female Executives by Valor Economico newspaper.

Afdhel Aziz

Writer, Speaker, MarketeerGood is the New Cool; Conspiracy of Love

Afdhel Aziz is one of the world's leading experts in marketing innovation. He was most recently Director of Absolut Labs in the USA, highlighted by Forbes as one of the top three marketing innovation labs to emulate, and is currently Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Conspiracy of Love, a think-tank and idea incubator that helps Fortune 500 brands use culture and technology as a force for good. Afdhel is the co-author Good is the New Cool: Market Like You Give a Damn, a provocative manifesto for a bold new model of marketing, transforming brands into forces for good.

Gal Barradas

Strategist & Business WomanGal Barradas Brand&Venture

After working at great agencies for 28 years, and being a partner and co-founder of BETC São Paulo, Gal Barradas launched a new company focused on Strategy and CX. She also invests in startups. Apart from communication activities, Gal has also taken part in women's leadership groups, mentoring entrepreneurs. She is a counsellor of the Verdescola Institute NGO, and is also a marketplace columnist at Marie Claire Magazine. In 2017, Gal became a speaker on TEDx São Paulo.

Gal Barradas is the first woman on the list of the advertising professionals most admired by the Advertisers (Scopen 2016/2017), and was also one of the Women to Watch in 2017. She also ranks among the 10 advertising professionals most admired by colleagues.

In 2018, she shall also be releasing her first book about the impact of technology on communication.

Gal is a co-author of the Woman Interrupted app that seeks to reduce manterrupting within the corporate environment; this app has been downloaded in over 100 countries. She graduated in Business Administration in Brazil and then pursued graduate studies in Semiotics, in France.

Jennifer Barratt

Chief Education OfficerAcorns

A financial literacy advocate and award-winning financial journalist, Jennifer currently serves as Chief Education Officer at Acorns, the country's fastest growing micro-investing company, and Editor-in-Chief of the millennial money site Grow, published by Acorns. Previously, she was Personal Finance Editor at CNBC. She’s also held executive roles at DailyWorth, a financial media company targeting women, where she was Senior VP and Editor-in-Chief, and at Hearst Digital, where she was General Manager over four women's magazine sites.
The co-author of two personal finance books, Jennifer's covered financial topics for publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Worth, Money—and Newsweek, where she was a staff writer and editor for seven years. She began her financial journalism career in 1999, writing the foreign exchange column for The Wall Street Journal.
Jennifer is also a contributor at Forbes and a frequent speaker and panelist on money-related topics. She's done multiple radio interviews and has appeared on-air on the TODAY show, MSNBC, CNN, CNBC and CheddarTV, among others. Follow her @JBarrettNYC.

Dr. Nelly Ben Hayoun

Director, Designer of Experiences, FounderNelly Ben Hayoun Studios and University of the Underground

Dr. Nelly Ben Hayoun is a designer of extreme experiences that aims to bring the sublime to life. Dubbed the “Willy Wonka of Design,” Dr. Nelly Ben Hayoun is an award-winning French designer and filmmaker who creates multi-dimensional experiential projects at the intersection of science, theater, politics and Design. Wired awarded her their inaugural Innovation Fellowship in 2014, and Icon magazine recognized Dr. Ben Hayoun as one of the top 50 designers 'shaping the future' for her pioneering “total bombardment” design philosophy.
Her laboratory, NBH Studios, is on a mission to bring chaos to the world; she is the founder and director of the International Space Orchestra the world’s first orchestra of NASA space scientists and astronauts; and most recently she founded the University of the Underground, a subversive tuition free educative and cultural programme that is on course to create disorder in academia.
Her award winning projects include an immersive installation that imagines the experience of a sonic boom, a reclining chair simulating the 3 stages of a rocket launch, and two feature length documentaries; the International Space Orchestra (IFFR 2013) and Disaster Playground (SXSW 2015). Her various roles include Chief of Experiences at WeTransfer, Designer of Experiences at the SETI (search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute, advisor to the United Nations Virtual Reality Labs, Research Director at Brooklyn based design Institute A/D/O and advisory board member at AIGA (American Institute for Graphic Arts) . Dr. Ben Hayoun currently splits her time between London, Amsterdam and New York City.

Bevan Bloemendaal

VP Global Environments and Creative ServicesTimberland

Bevan Bloemendaal is the Vice President of Global Environments and Creative Services at Timberland. He is responsible for the brand’s identity and integrity worldwide through Timberland retail stores, franchisees, distributors and wholesale environments. Bevan’s Global Creative Services team is comprised of dedicated experts from various agencies and brands that make up five disciplines: art and copy, account services, digital interactive, visual merchandising and retail environments all obsessed with creating unique design solutions. These teams are driven creatively and strategically using innovative solutions for store design, advertising, brand storytelling in a cluttered retail | wholesale and digital landscape. Since starting at Timberland in 1999, Bevan has been honored with a wide range of design awards for store design, fixture design, brand materials and interactive consumer experiences.

In 2013 he received the Retail Design Institute – Retail Design Legion of Honor award, in 2012 he received the DDI Retail Design Influencer Portfolio award and in 2008 he was inducted into the POP Hall of Fame. Bevan’s previous experience includes nearly 20 years in various creative leadership positions at the Kinney Corporation which is a former parent company to footwear brands such as Champs Sports, Foot Locker, Foot Quarters and Lady Foot Locker. Prior to joining Timberland, he was the director of visual merchandising and marketing for Colorado, a division of the Venator Group. In addition to his business experience, Bevan serves on the VMSD Magazine Editorial Advisory Board, retail store design judge, keynote speaker and is a member of the A.R.E. (Association of Retail Environments) Executive Committee.

Neil Blumenthal

Co-Founder and Co-CEOWarby Parker

Neil Blumenthal is a co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, a transformative lifestyle brand that offers designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses. In 2015, Fast Company named Warby Parker the most innovative company in the world.
Prior to launching Warby Parker in 2010, Neil served as director of VisionSpring, a non-profit social enterprise that trains low-income women to start their own businesses selling affordable eyeglasses to individuals living on less than $4 per day in developing countries.

He was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company. He was also recognized as part of “The Next Establishment” by Vanity Fair, and serves on the board of RxArt and on the United Nations Foundation Global Entrepreneurs Council.
A native of New York City, Neil received his BA from Tufts University and his MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Jack Brockway

Photographic AmbassadorPerfect World Foundation

Jack is a leading British photographer specialising in telling peoples stories through portraiture. Jack’s passion for creativity and out of the ordinary is evident. Additionally, Jack is a prolific wildlife photographer spending a large part of his time working on conservation and environmental projects. Jack is the Photography Ambassador for The Perfect World Foundation (that brings awareness to world problems such as climate change and animal conservation) and Specialist Leader for Natural World Safari’s (leading groups to the world most precious and desired places on Earth). Personal projects such as organising an expedition up Kilimanjaro (raising over US$100k for WWF) and airing the documentary filmed on Nat Geo Asia. He is passionate about his charitable work, particularly with the Sabre Trust, Virgin Unite and The Elephant Family whom he recently exhibited his images for at The Halcyon Gallery in London.
For the last ten years, Jack also acted as a Director at Brockway Associates, a graphic design consultancy developing identities for clients such as Raymond Blanc’s iconic Le Manoir and Virgin Limited Edition.
Jack holds the world record time for Kite Surfing the English Channel, which he achieved with a group of family and friends in 2012

Richard Bullock

DirectorRevolver/Hungryman

Richard Bullock has worked as a writer, creative director and advertising agency owner in Sydney, Johannesburg, London, New York and Amsterdam.

For eight years he was executive creative director for agency 180 Amsterdam and had global input on clients such as adidas, Sony, Motorola, BMW, Amnesty, MTV and Omega. The advertising club of New York awarded his -Impossible is Nothing- campaign for adidas as the most memorable marketing moment across its one hundred year history.

Seeking new challenges, Richard began directing commercial films and documentaries in 2009 and is represented by Hungry Man in the US and UK and Revolver/Will O’Rourke in Australia and New Zealand. He has always had a leaning towards not-for-profit stories and has worked with Comic Relief, Amnesty International, Oxfam, Orbis, The Climate Reality Project, Operation Open Heart and Operation Smile. His long form films have been seen on National Geographic channel, Eurosport, SBS and the BBC.

Since returning to Australia in 2011, Richard has also directed film content projects for blue chip clients such as Asics, Mastercard, Lottery West, OPSM, Microsoft, Google, Toyota, IKEA and Qantas.

He has been a speaker and judge at numerous international conferences and award shows. Including the British D&AD, Cannes Lions, and One Show in NYC.

“I believe passionately in trying to do good work, for good people.”

Anthony Casalena

Founder and CEOSquarespace

Anthony Casalena is the Founder and CEO of Squarespace, which he started from his dorm room in 2003. During the company’s early years, Anthony acted as the sole engineer, designer, and support representative for the entire Squarespace platform, allowing for it to be a stable business from the outset.

In addition to his main responsibilities in running the company and setting overall product strategy, he remains actively involved in the engineering, design, and product teams within the organization. Anthony holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Maryland.

Joanna Catalano

CEOIProspect APAC

As CEO of iProspect Asia Pacific, Joanna Catalano is responsible for iProspect’s regional business growth strategy with a focus on client leadership, mergers and acquisitions, talent development and future-focused solutions. Based in Singapore, she manages a team of 1,000 digital experts across fourteen markets. Joanna has 16+ years of experience managing sales and marketing teams, building trusted advisor relationships with multinational companies and managing high impact change initiatives. She has in depth travel category expertise having served in senior client-side and advisory roles. Prior to joining iProspect in 2017, Joanna spent five years with Google Asia Pacific in regional client leadership and product go-to-market and monetization roles. She has 12+ years in-depth digital experience, managing complex, global clients in the United States, Western Europe and now Asia, where she has spent the last ten years.

Joanna commenced her career in economic development partnering with the Ukrainian government on media and communications, and micro-lending for female start-ups, as it transitioned to a capitalist economy. This experience peaked a lifelong commitment to diversity and entrepreneurship. Within Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), Joanna serves as executive sponsor for Diversity & Inclusion with responsibility for DAN’s Female Foundry and its expansion across Asia Pacific. In its second year, Female Foundry is an accelerator programme focused on developing and funding female led start-ups in emerging markets that embody innovation, diversity, social sustainability and tech leadership. Outside of work, Joanna spent two years leading Singapore Female Founders, a non-profit research and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting equality for founders of tech-enabled businesses. To support the industry, she’s served as Vice Chair of the Singapore Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), two years as a judge for the Asia Pacific Effies and is an active mentor and coach within the tech, media and start-up industries. In 2018, Joanna was recognized by The Drum in their Digerati APAC as one of the most influential digital marketers across the region. When not involved in any of the above, she is mom of two, design aficionado, avid traveller, and foodie.

Patrick Chang

PrincipalSamsung NEXT Ventures

Patrick Chang is an early stage investor at Samsung NEXT Ventures. He primarily focuses on seed to series B enterprise / B2B investing and specializes in security, enterprise/industrial IOT, blockchain, edge computing and more.

Prior to Samsung, Patrick was at Foundation Capital with a focus on SaaS and enterprise software. He has over 13 years of experience investing in enterprise software including IT security, infrastructure, developer tools, business intelligence/analytics and more ranging in various stages from seed to growth equity at Bain Capital Ventures, Investor Growth Capital, New York Angels and Updata.

Patrick is also a recovering tech investment banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Lehman Brothers, where he helped public and venture backed technology companies raise capital and execute M&A transactions.

Brent Choi

Chief Creative OfficerJ. Walter Thompson New York

As a ‘creative’ guy, for years Brent hid the fact he had graduated from one of Canada’s most prestigious business schools. And that he used to be an account guy. And that he won numerous math competitions. Okay, maybe keep that last one on the down-low still. Today as Chief Creative Officer of J. Walter Thompson’s flagship New York office, Brent’s unique left brain/right brain approach has helped them transform creatively. In just his first 18 months, JWT’s work has been featured in publications such as New York Times, Mashable, CNN and even Sesame Street, along with a dozen Cannes Lions and Pencils.

Before arriving in NY, Brent helped two different agencies transform into Canada’s Agency of the Year, two others to runner-up AOY, and his clients being named Brand and twice the Marketer of the Year. In 2013, Brent was the #2 ranked Chief Creative Officer in the World for digital and is one of only 11 worldwide winners of the inaugural Fast Company Innovation by Design Award At home Brent transforms into a proud dad, insane NFL fan, and loving husband. His wife would add “In that order.”

Paco Conde

Founder & ECDActivista

Paco is behind some of the ideas that had a great impact not just on the award shows but, more importantly, in the real world.

A social experiment about beauty conducted by an FBI sketcher and viewed by 180 million people.

The first organ donation card for a soccer team that increased 61% organ donations and saved dozens of lives.

Mothers of hooligans as stewards during the most violent game of the season, reducing the incidents to zero.

A training program to help tattoo artists to detect signs of skin cancer followed by thousands of artists across Brazil.

A series of photos exhibited in the Parliament of the UK, featuring 72 people from the 72 countries where same-sex relations are illegal, sharing a same-sex kiss.

During his career, Paco has been Creative Director at Sra Rushmore Madrid, Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy Brazil, Group Creative Director at BBH London, and Executive Creative Director and Partner at Anomaly LA.

Frank Cooper

CMOBlackRock

Frank Cooper III is a business executive, branded entertainment leader and current Chief Marketing Officer of BlackRock.

Ben Cooper

FounderTricky Jigsaw

Ben is the founder and Managing Director of the innovation design consultancy Tricky Jigsaw, a company within the M&C Saatchi Group that, in September 2017, saw the group take first place in the Australian Financial Review’s ‘Most Innovative Company’ award. Tricky Jigsaw’s methods and product design work for NRMA Fireblanket (an early bushfire detection system), also won ‘Most Innovative Product’ and overall ‘Best Innovation’ categories.

He is responsible for not only the growth and sustainability of Tricky Jigsaw but its positioning as a unique and laterally minded skillset. Through a process of systematic creativity, it offers businesses, organisations and institutions the ability to rethink their impact through product, services and experiences.

In 2017 he was personally recognised amongst the top 20 creatives in Australia by the Adnews Creativity List. He is inspired by what is achievable with passionate, curious people unbound by convention.

He is known for leading M&C’s world-first shark detection system, the 'Optus Clever Buoy' to win seven Cannes Lions and the coveted Titanium, as well as SXSW, SPIKES Grand Prix and a D&AD White Pencil amongst others. The Buoy went on to receive backing in a $16m shark mitigation pledge from the NSW Government and is listed on the ASX (SM8).

Prior to joining M&C Saatchi in 2014, Ben was Head of Digital for The Monkeys; and, before that, had two decades of international experience across London, Zurich and Sydney. In his spare time, he is a co-founder of O Six Hundred, a skin-on-frame kit kayak that in 2015 won Best in Category at the Good Design Awards.

Alastair Cotterill

Global Head of Creative and Brand StrategyPinterest

Alastair (@PinsAndHearts) is the global head of creative and brand strategy at Pinterest. Alastair recently joined the company from Instagram, where he was on the European leadership team and oversaw advertising creative on the platform. Prior to working at Instagram, Alastair was a creative strategist at Facebook. Alastair is a mentor at the School of Communication Arts and the Incubus incubator programme. He is currently pinning vintage photographs, the hills of San Francisco and quirky surrealist objects.

Joaquin Cubria

VP & CCODAVID

For more than 20 years he’s been delivering world-class work from Buenos Aires most creative agencies. In 2012 he was summoned to become ECD at DAVID. In only 4 years DAVID grew from scratch to become a team of 40 multicultural talented people creating campaigns for the most diverse markets that positioned the shop in the Top#5 agency ranking at Cannes 2016.

His work has been awarded at all major international festivals winning over 35 Lions and 7 pencils. The “Manboobs4boobs” campaign won the United Nations Grand Prix for Good at Cannes 2016, as well as a Grand Clio, a Yellow Pencil and took home the very first D&AD Impact White Pencil for Latin America, making it the most awarded campaign in the history of Argentine advertising. It sparked a global debate around social media censorship and has been spontaneously translated to 10 different languages.

He was a speaker at D&AD 2017, sat twice as jury in Cannes, is currently VP of the Argentine Creative Circle and feels proud to have survived longer than the U-Matic and the mouse in such a cruel, fast changing industry.

Sally-Ann Dale

Chief Creation OfficerDroga5

Sally-Ann Dale is an award-winning international producer with nearly 30 years of advertising experience. Since joining Droga5 as a partner in 2006—when the agency first opened its doors—she has grown its production department into an industry-leading group of 180 people. As Chief Creation Officer, she oversees all of the agency’s integrated production, which comprises 35 different disciplines. Prior to Droga5, Sally-Ann worked as Head of TV at Saatchi & Saatchi London, where she became one of the most awarded agency producers in the UK. In 2003, Sally-Ann moved to New York to become Co-Director of Broadcast Production at Publicis.
During Droga5’s early years, Sally-Ann crafted category-defining work, such as “Still Free” for Marc Ecko, “Hardchorus” for Puma and “Decode Jay-Z with Bing.” Most recently, Sally-Ann has overseen numerous integrated campaigns for Under Armour, Johnsonville, Google, Chase, YMCA, Ancestry and Hillary for America, as well as a host of other integrated global campaigns for all of Droga5’s clients.
In 2016, Sally-Ann launched Droga5’s Production Apprenticeship program to support growth and upward mobility, providing opportunities to get an in-depth and comprehensive view of the agency’s Production Department. At the beginning of 2017, Sally-Ann relaunched Droga5 Studios as Second Child with the goal of creating a space where creative development wasn’t confined to people’s minds. Through prototyping, the agency is able to develop and test concepts across every discipline—from film content and photography to software development and fabrication. By having the studio, it allows the agency the flexibility to identify, grow, groom and work with a diverse set of talent across every discipline.
In the last couple of years, Sally-Ann was featured in Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business. And, most recently, she’s been active in supporting the Women at Sundance Fellowship.
Sally-Ann lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her two children, Matilda and Saul

Soraya Darabi

Co-FounderZADY

Soraya Darabi is a trailblazing authority on digital consumerism and how to apply new technologies to foster efficiency, visibility and growth. At The New York Times, Darabi became the newspaper’s first-ever Manager of Digital Partnerships and Social Media at the age of 23, where she formed and implemented the global news leader’s first-ever digital and social media strategies. The New York Times still has these strategies in place today. As a result, she became recognized around the world for her authority as a game changer in a rapidly evolving and hard-to-understand digital world. In fact, Fast Company featured her on the cover of their ‘Most Creative People in Business’ issue.

Soon afterward, Darabi co-founded Foodspotting, (which was acquired by Open Table), and most recently Zady.com, one of the first online retailers to seamlessly integrate e-commerce, rich media content and social media to deliver a truly dynamic shopping experience. Zady empowers customers to take a deeper look into how and where their clothes are made—by offering beautifully constructed goods with a low environmental footprint in a world of cheap prices and fast production. In 2015 Darabi stepped down from her day-to-day position as co-founder of Zady, and has stayed on as a senior adviser.

Shana Dressler

Board MemberAIGA

Over the past 10 years, Shana Dressler has dedicated her career to empowering entrepreneurs, creative professionals, and social change leaders to launch businesses and projects, build hardware and software products, and transition out of corporate jobs into more fulfilling careers. As the Executive Director of Google's 30 Weeks, Shana ran an incubator for design entrepreneurs that Fast Company named as one of the World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 in design.

A deeply committed social entrepreneur, Shana is widely recognized as the first person in New York to organize rigorous educational programming for 21st century entrepreneurial problem-solvers and creatives interested in achieving both financial sustainability and measurable impact. To fill a notable gap in the lack of resources available, Shana co-created the Social Good Guides, a series of guides focused on the essential small-business skills that would-be changemakers need to know and an 8-week workshop called Social Good Startup: Idea to Launch.

Shana is an Aspen Institute Scholar, a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judge for The Webby Awards and a graduate of the THNK School of Creative Leadership. In 2014 she became a Delegate to the United Nations Foundation Global Accelerator which brought together ;100 of the world's top entrepreneurs to work together with policy leaders on global issues. In 2015, Shana was honored by the World CSR Congress as one of the 50 Most Talented Social Innovators. Currently she consults with Fortune 500 companies leading workshops in leadership and innovation training and startups with Series A funding in the scaling phase.

She has given keynote talks and led workshops at conferences including Fast Company's Innovation Festival, Harvard Social Enterprise Conference, HarvardxDesign, A Better World By Design, Adobe's 99u, the Social Good Summit, the Disruptive Innovation Festival, Core77 and many others. She serves on the board of AIGA/NY and the NYC Innovation Collective, a nonprofit she co-founded which convenes and supports 90+ incubators, accelerators and innovation programs throughout New York. In addition to frequent travel to far-flung places, Shana loves all things chocolate and makes her way around New York on a midnight blue Vespa. You can follow her @shanadressler.

Marcus East

Chief Technology OfficerNational Geographic

Marcus East is an energetic, dynamic technology leader with nearly 25 years’ experience of building innovative technology solutions around the globe...

Half of his career has been spent working for major technology companies IBM and Apple where he learnt how to build world-class technology, and for the other half of his career it has been his privilege to work with a number of major consumer-facing brands helping them to harness the power of IT.

Marcus is EVP & Chief Technology Officer for National Geographic, an organization with a 130-year old history that is transitioning into the digital age and using technology to bring its powerful storytelling and iconic imagery to a new audience. He is responsible for the organization’s digital product and technology teams and has a mission to help re-engineer the organization for the digital age. This includes embracing the power of the cloud as an alternative to traditional applications and systems, and replacing a number of disparate, legacy systems with a new platform called ‘CHIP’, driven by micro-services and the use of serverless computing.

During his time living in Silicon Valley, Marcus developed a deep knowledge of agile and also learned about successful approaches to innovation and digital technology, and his experience at Apple has helped to understand the importance of new technologies and techniques in developing compelling consumer experiences that customers love. Marcus holds a Bachelor’s from London Guildhall where he majored in Management and Information Technology, and a Master’s in Management from the University of Cambridge; he is also a Fellow of the BCS Chartered Institute for IT.

He was born in London and attended the Latymer Grammar School in his native Enfield and also served as Councilor for Enfield Chase ward from 2010-2014.

Kerstin Emhoff

Co-Founder & PresidentPRETTYBIRD

Kerstin Emhoff is the co-founder & president of PRETTYBIRD, a hybrid production company she established with director Paul Hunter in 2008. With offices in Los Angeles and London, PRETTYBIRD is home to a diverse roster of filmmakers, creatives and collaborators with a distinct vision to produce inspiring content for all forms of entertainment.
Emhoff is recognized for her successful and enduring relationships with top agencies, clients, artists and managers, and her experience and unique style across various mediums and platforms. Under her leadership, PRETTYBIRD has collected Grammys, Emmys, D&AD Awards, Cannes Lions & Grand Prix, Clio’s and MTV Video Music Awards – in addition to being named Creativity’s 2015 Production Company of the Year.
As a producer or Executive Producer, Emhoff has been involved in a wide range of PRETTYBIRD’s eclectic work including: Paul Hunter’s upcoming series “Vital Signs” starring Dr. Dre for Apple; Intel & Lady Gaga’s David Bowie Tribute at the 2016 Grammy Awards; Netflix’s epic EDM rave film XOXO starring Sarah Hyland; Atlas Entertainment’s The Monster, directed by Brian Bertino; HBO’s 2013 Primetime Emmy Award Winner Manhunt: The Inside Story of the Hunt for Bin Laden; and the Academy Award shortlisted documentary The Tillman Story.
Emhoff is currently developing Pipelines, a diversity initiative focusing on creative talent development in the entertainment, advertising and production industries.

Carolyn Everson

VP, Global Marketing SolutionsFacebook

Carolyn Everson is Vice President, Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook, where she leads the company’s relationships with top marketers and agencies. Carolyn oversees a team of regional leaders, and the teams focused on global partnerships, global agencies, and Facebook’s Creative Shop.
Carolyn has been named to AdWeek’s “AdWeek 50” since 2013. In 2015, she was named to the top of Business Insider’s list of the Most Powerful Women in Advertising.

She is on the Board of Directors of Hertz Global Holdings, Inc.; serves on the boards of DonorsChoose, the Mobile Marketing Association, and the Advertising Women of New York Foundation; and is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Effie Worldwide. She is the Chair of We Day, New York.
Carolyn holds a bachelor’s degree from Villanova University and a master’s degree from Harvard Business School. She is a member of the Villanova University Board of Trustees. She resides in New Jersey with her husband and their twin daughters.

Aline Santos Farhat

SVP, Global MarketingUnilever

Aline joined Unilever Brazil in 1989, as a trainee in Marketing. She spent her first 10 years in Brand Building (Local Marketing Operations) and 17 years in Brand development (Global Marketing), summing 27 years at Unilever. During her journey, she had the opportunity to be part of the DOVE Global Team, who created the DOVE Beauty Theory and more recently to lead Unilever’s biggest Home Care Brand, OMO, with the successful "The Dirt is Good" platform, becoming the largest detergent brand in the world, transforming the business from a 350M Euros to a 4 billion Euros in 7 years.

Last October, she was appointed to lead the Global SVP Marketing, taking responsibility for creating capabilities for all marketeers and Unilever Brands. She is currently based between London and São Paulo.

Cristin Frodella

Head of Global Education MarketingGoogle

Cristin Frodella is the Head of Global Education Marketing at Google, where she and her team have created dozens of programs to advance the use of technology in education. In 2006, Cristin founded the Google Teacher Academy, a professional development program that currently trains thousands of innovative teachers all over the world. In 2011, she founded the Google Science Fair, an online competition that asks teenagers to change the world through exploration and invention.

Cristin sits on the boards of Eskolta, helping public schools engage at-risk students and Kidbacker, promoting young entrepreneurs. In her free time, Cristin is an aspiring yogi and her husband says she bakes a mean strawberry rhubarb pie.

Abby Fuller

Director, StorytellerChef's Table for Netflix; Do You Dream in Colour

Abby Fuller is the only female director on the critically acclaimed, Emmy-nominated, CHEF'S TABLE, now in its fourth season on Netflix. Her debut feature documentary, DO YOU DREAM IN COLOR? played at twenty festivals nationwide winning several awards and screened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was distributed on PBS and Sundance Now and is currently part of a national screening series to empower disabled youth.

Previously she produced and directed the Emmy award winning series, TRUE LIFE for MTV where she captured the harrowing stories of young people caught in the opioid and heroin epidemic. She has directed, produced and edited documentaries for Ron Howard / Imagine Ent., Sundance Channel, Food Network,Google, and National Geographic. Abby has been the recipient of the Loreen Arbus activist filmmaker award presented by New York Women in Film and the Dr. James Bolotin award presented by the National Federation of the Blind.

In addition to filmmaking, Abby is the co-founder of a 1,500 acre ranch in Northern Virginia dedicated to environmental stewardship, biodiversity and addressing climate change, APD Farm. When she is not on set or in an edit she can be found studying soil and growing healthy food with her fiancé and her dog, Charlotte.

Yuya Furukawa

Global ECDDentsu

Yuya started out at years ago Dentsu as a TV writer, when advertising life was much simpler.
Under his leadership today, Dentsu’s creative teams work on projects ranging from product development, branded content creation, pure content creation, including TV programs and movies, content export, space planning and design, digital platform development, business strategy and consulting, and PR to traditional advertising. He is also Director of Dentsu Lab Tokyo, an initiative to bring new forms of creation through technology by combining research, ideation, and development.

Since Yuya became Chief Creative Officer, Dentsu’s creatives have been awarded hundreds of metals in all colors at Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Spikes, Adfest, as well as all the major domestic awards. As a result, the agency has been awarded Agency of the Year, and Interactive Agency of the Year for three consecutive years at Adfest. He is also a familiar face as a judge at international awards, such as Cannes, D&AD, Clio, and Spikes, and as a speaker at various conferences including the President’s Lecture at D&AD.

Aaron Gershenberg

FounderSilicon Valley Bank Capital's Fund of Funds

Aaron Gershenberg is a founder of Silicon Valley Bank Capital’s fund of funds and direct funds, SVB Capital. Aaron joined SVB in 1999 and has been part of the venture capital industry since 1996. Under his leadership, the group has over $3.3 billion under management across fund of funds, direct funds and separate accounts. Aaron’s expertise is evaluating venture capital funds globally while building a unique value proposition for institutional investors seeking to access the innovation economy. He has published numerous articles on the future of venture capital and is frequently invited to speak and moderate panels at conferences in the US and Overseas.
Prior to joining SVB, Aaron opened FirstCorp’s Northern California office, a venture leasing group focused on early stage companies. In this capacity, Aaron was responsible for providing venture financing to more than 50 startup technology companies. Previously, Aaron was part of the investment banking group for Union Bank of California and the real estate consulting practice of Deloitte & Touche.
Aaron earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics and African Studies from Wesleyan University and a master’s degree in finance from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Aaron combines his passion for philanthropy with his love of the outdoors. In 1984 he joined 50 students biking from Boston to Los Angeles, raising money for Oxfam America. In 2003, Aaron was a founder of the Hearst Castle Best Buddies ride, a 100 mile ride from Carmel to the Hearst Castle benefiting the intellectually and developmentally disabled. He has raised over $3M to date for Best Buddies and serves on the International Board, 1st Move and board observer on Play Magnus- making chess part of the 2nd & 3rd grade curriculum to promote stem education.
He is an accomplished kite boarder and loves kiting on waves and the snow.

Vincent Gillet

VP International MarketingHertz

Vincent is VP International Marketing at Hertz, overseeing the centenary brand across 150+ countries where he plays a central role in the full refit of all its digital platforms to re-imagine a new seamless, fully digitised customer journey across all touch points whilst evolving the iconic brand into a mobility 1st world.

Vincent has a strong interest for sustainability and particularly water conservation. Whilst he was CMO with Six Senses, a boutique luxury hospitality brand and a pioneer in sustainable tourism and preventative wellness, he launched a series of educational water fundraiser called “Watermen” involving leading marine biologists, world-champion watermen which was the catalyst for the launch of Blue Marine foundation backed conservation in the Maldives.

Roshi Givechi

Design Consultant & Storyteller

After wrapping up 19 hearty years with IDEO, 2018 marks the start of Roshi Givechi's independent creative sabbatical - a window for her to explore the intersection of narrative/film + technology + design more deeply. She balances her time working on personal projects, collaborating with others on their initiatives, and consulting. As a designer or most recently a Partner and Executive Design Director at IDEO, Roshi brings inspiration from choreography to dissect the many parts that come together to make a greater whole - whether designing for better cities, products, services, or shaping stories themselves. Having worked across the California, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and New York studios over the years, she has channeled her global exposure to amplify creative solutions, as well as shape internal company culture to inspire designers and clients alike. At the end of the day, Roshi recognizes the power design has to help us all address challenges in elegant and impactful ways, wants to spotlight the resilience and beauty in humanity through simple stories, and gets reenergized when she gets to work "in the field" from time to time.

Roshi has appreciated opportunities to teach (California College of Arts, Stanford University in New York) and learn (MFA Art Center College of Design, SVA NYC, UnionDocs). She was named "one of the top 40 leading design innovators" by I.D. Magazine back in the day, has been a juror for D & AD Awards, the Clio's, the Art Directors Club and is featured in Daniel Coyle's 2018 book, "The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups". She's on the first Advisory Council for the Sundance Institute Theater Group and is a pleased member of NYWIFT which exposes her to a potpourri of stories and filmmakers in this chapter.

Cyrill Gutsch

FounderParley for the Oceans

Cyrill Gutsch is an award-winning designer and brand and product developer. Originally specialized in both start-ups and in turning struggling companies around, in 2012 Gutsch decided to apply his skills to a client vital to us all: The Oceans. He founded Parley for the Oceans as a collaboration network creators, thinkers, and leaders to create awareness for the beauty and fragility of the oceans and to develop and implement strategies that can end their destruction.

Gutsch has worked as an independent creative concept developer for major international companies for many years. In 1998 he created a method called Cross Intelligence, which brings a culture of collaboration to major organizations, and in 2001 co-founded the CCID Center for Media, Knowledge Cultures, Imagination and Development at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, providing a forum for those from the worlds of science and the arts to come together in creative collaborations. Today, he unites scientists, artists, major brands and environmentalists for the oceans cause, acting as a mediator translating creative energy and environmental expertise into business strategy.

Derek Handley

Social Innovator, Entrepreneur and Impact Investor

Derek Handley is currently Chief Innovation Officer with New York-based social impact startup studio, Human Ventures. He is also the founder of Aera, a charitable trust investing in causes and companies addressing social issues in imaginative ways. The foundation catalyzed Aera VC, a community of family investors backing for-profit, social-venture startups launched at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where Derek was named 2016 Social Innovator in Residence.

Previously, Derek was Founding CEO of The B Team, co-founded with Sir Richard Branson as a global leadership collective advancing better ways of doing business for people and planet.

One of the first companies to help global brands navigate the mobile world, The Hyperfactory, was founded by Derek six years before the iPhone was invented. It is one of the multiple future-focused digital media and technology companies co-founded by Derek, and was acquired by Time Inc/Meredith Corporation in 2010. Shortly after, Derek was named in the 'Silicon Alley 100' most influential technology people in New York.

Derek is also a director at New Zealand’s largest media company, Sky Television (NZX: SKT); a founding member of the Air New Zealand Sustainability Advisory Panel (NZX:AIR); and a former New Zealand EY Young Entrepreneur of the Year; and an aspiring astronaut with Virgin Galactic, hoping to rocket off to space in the coming years.

Betise Head

International Media Consultant

Her work as Press Officer/Director of Communications to Triple F1 World Champion Ayrton Senna, is cited & studied in Communication & Media Skills courses in various Universities in Betise Head’s native Brazil. From 1989 till 1994 Senna’s untimely death, Betise travelled with the charismatic driver all over the world as the 1st personal Press Officer in the sport. Fluent in 5 languages she helped to set up not only a series of anecdotal columns in various countries in the World - Brazil, Japan & Germany amongst them - but also an innovative strategy to promote Senna’s world wide image and licensing products.

During this period, Betise also supported and provided strategy to many charities and NGOs linked to Formula 1 and to Senna’s heart, lifting their visibility and improving their credibility through high profile connections and business. This involvement brought her, later on, close to Projects like ABC (Action for Brazil’s Children - http://www.abctrust.org.uk/) and Gol de Letra (https://goldeletra.org.br/) both supporting grassroots community projects and focused in Education. Together they help nearly 20.000 vulnerable children and adolescents every year.

Over 30 years engaged in Sports - one of the first women to do so in Brazil - , Betise has worked in 4 Olympic Games, including London 2012 and Rio 2016 where she was an integral part of the Media Team dealing with the thousands of journalists and broadcasters. Her ‘pet love’ there was the sustainable and environmental legacy work. Betise has been described as “someone who will never be silent when she should speak out; she’ll never turn away when she can help and she’ll never walk when she can run. Her mind is full of thoughts and her heart is full of hope”.

Erin Hersey

Lead InnovatorWhat if Innovation

Driven by relentless curiosity and constant upbeat energy, Erin has worked across various fields clarifying the human problem at the heart of any system, working with people, teams and executives to create experiences that change perceptions and outcomes. Her favorite challenges are working with people and teams to help them identify their innate capabilities, existing resources and to better understand the larger business realities—then applying this information to crack any challenge they might face.

Before joining ?What If!, she worked in a range of strategic fields including law, international development, technology, and education. As a strategist at San Francisco-based agile e-commerce agency Avenue Code, she partnered with Fortune 500 companies to reframe how they developed their systems—and even helped the company itself to grow from 15 to 87 people internationally in under a year. Most recently, she helped found and launch the groundbreaking M.F.A. program in Design for Social Innovation at the School of Visual Arts and content platform Publet.

Passionate about food, Erin loves home-brewing and hosting Dinners With Ideas NYC, a monthly dinner club where diverse individuals come together for spirited debate and conversation. When not connecting with social innovators and entrepreneurs over food, she can spend countless hours listening to podcasts while doodling in her notebook.

Paul Herz

Director, Manufacturing OperationsFacebook

Paul is currently a director leading manufacturing operations at Building 8 and Oculus AR/VR, Facebook’s hardware divisions focused on creating products to build community and make positive impact for the 2 billion humans using the platform ecosystems. He is passionate about helping startups get off the ground and enabling technologies that advance the human condition.

Prior to Facebook, Paul led new product introduction at Apple focused on Asia Pacific operations and high volume manufacturing for iPad, iPhone, Macbook, and Audio product lines. He has worked bringing several hundred million devices into the hands of others to empower and change their lives and has extensive international experience in China, Taiwan, Japan, Mexico, Korea, Vietnam, India, and Europe.

Paul was born in South Africa and has unbridled enthusiasm for both kitesurfing and riding motorcycles. He completed his undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley in Engineering Physics and received his doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Rob Holzer

FounderMatter Unlimited

Rob Holzer founded Matter Unlimited to drive positive, lasting change in the world by leveraging the power of advertising, digital marketing and creative content. Under Rob’s leadership, Matter Unlimited has created powerful campaigns for client partners including Facebook, HP, Merck For Mothers, UNICEF, ABC/Disney, NBC Universal, Kimpton and TED.
In 2015, Rob and his team launched a virtual reality (VR) film series featuring global stories of social change, titled “Inside Impact”. The first film, Emmy-nominated “Inside Impact: East Africa,” is a journey with President Clinton through the Clinton Global Initiative’s work in the region. Matter Unlimited continues to pioneer content for social impact in the emerging VR/AR space.
Prior to founding Matter Unlimited, Rob was Founder and CEO of Syrup, which he created in 1998. Syrup was well known for their pioneering work as Agency of Record for Puma, handling their 2010 World Cup campaign, and also for GE’s groundbreaking “Ecomagination” campaign. In 2007, he successfully navigated Syrup through their acquisition by LBi (now Digitas/LBi, part of Publicis).
Rob is a founding member of The Civic Nation Creative Alliance, a group that connected The White House initiatives to the country’s top creative talent under President Obama. Rob’s passion and vision for sustainable impact also extends beyond the office – he serves as an industry expert for the United Nations Media for Social Impact Summit, PopTech, and Social Innovation Summit. Rob is a certified Shared Value Initiative Affiliate, volunteer mentor for global entrepreneurial non-profit Endeavor.org, and is also on the board for the non-profit Lineage Project.

Arianna Huffington

Founder & CEOThrive Global

Arianna Huffington is the founder of The Huffington Post, the founder and CEO of Thrive Global, and the author of 15 books, including, most recently, Thrive and The Sleep Revolution.

Jayanta Jenkins

Global Group Creative DirectorTwitter

Jayanta Jenkins is Global Group Creative Director at Twitter, a role he moved into after serving as Global Creative Director of Advertising with Apple/Beats by Dre, where he managed and created global integrated marketing communications for the brand. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in fashion art advertising, Jayanta began his advertising career at The Martin Agency in Richmond, Virginia, and then joined Wieden+Kennedy, where he created integrated campaigns for Nike Basketball, Nike Running, and Powerade. Prior to joining Apple/Beats by Dre, Jayanta worked at TBWA/Chiat/Day (the agency known for the iconic 1984 Apple ad) on Gatorade.

Harsh Kapadia

Executive Creative DirectorVML London

After globe trotting across three continents, Harsh is now the Executive Creative Director for VML London. While he has been an ad guy for over ten years, he fell in love with it when he was 5 years old. According to his folks, mealtime, playtime or just about any time came to a standstill when the commercial breaks came on. He was transfixed. And has been since. With a career that’s spanned over four continents, the best agencies and the most exciting brands, Harsh continues to be smitten to this day. Maybe that’s what drives him so hard to keep on creating. He has been fortunate enough to have his work recognized at some of the biggest shows in the business. And lucky enough to build and lead teams of some of the most passionate people.
Over the years Harsh has had the privilege to make real impact and do some good in various parts of the world. Luckily it has been through his passion for ideas. He believes that in a time when "me time" is more important than anything else, it becomes a bigger challenge how to make someone else's plight be noticed and cared for. This tension of "me time" vs there is a bigger and selfless picture to the world gives me a unique challenge to problem solve.
His work has not only garnered the attention of the media and top award shows but also caught the attention of The First Lady of the United States in a personal letter to him:
“Dear Harsh, I wanted to thank you and your team for all the hard work you put into the Drink Up Ashanti project. As you know building a healthier future for our next generation is one of my defining missions as First Lady. That is why i deeply appreciate the efforts the efforts of committed partners like you. With determined focus and skill, you helped spread the message of Let's Move! and Drink Up to people around the world in a fresh and creative way, and for that i am truly grateful.
Thank you again for your leadership on this campaign, and i wish you the very best.
- Michelle Obama
Harsh believes real impact can be made through a simple idea, as long it comes from a real insight and is deliberate in solving a problem. An idea can be as innovative as a talking fountain to make America healthier again, a Facebook Live Teleprompter to give a voice to civilians in conflict or as simple as a print campaign mocking the Japanese whaling industry about their so called research as a reason to hunt whales. Never underestimate the change a simple idea can bring about.

Thomas Kolster

Mr Goodvertising

Thomas Kolster is a man on a mission, one of the early pioneers in the do-good space coining the term Goodvertising to describe the changing advertising landscape that’s become a movement in itself. As an experience advertising professional counting more than 15 years of experience he’s a vocal voice for advertising and brands as a force for good and his book ‘Goodvertising’ is the most comprehensive book to date exploring communication for good. The Huffington Post recently dubbed him ‘Inspirational Leader’.

He’s an experienced keynote speaker featured at events such as SXSW, Eurobest, ad:tech & Sustainable Brands, a columnist for the Guardian and several other publications and a regular judge at international award shows. He’s also the founder of the world’s first best-practice sharing platform for sustainable initiatives, WhereGoodGrows, which was mentioned as ‘one to watch’ by Marketing Week

Emily Kortlang

EMEA Brand DirectorBeats by Dr. Dre, Apple

Emily is currently the EMEA Brand Director for Beats by Dr. Dre at Apple. She has recently completed an MBA at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership and was just co-chair of D&AD Rare, an initiative that aims to give those from diverse backgrounds the skills and leadership training necessary to navigate being a minority. Coming from a single-parent family and growing up on a council estate in Hackney, Emily felt that RARE was the perfect opportunity to “send the ladder down to those coming up behind”.
Emily’s first job was driving a Red Bull car with a can on the back and from here she fell in love with the world of marketing and decided to finish her Sports Science degree and add a Masters in Marketing and Management.
After a nearly a decade in fizzy drinks, Emily left Red Bull and decided, she needed to broaden her experience out of FMCG. She jumped agency side to understand how to market, cars, mobile phones and chocolate. The next place she’d call home was Fallon, a small but globally renowned creative advertising agency, responsible for some of the biggest campaigns of the decade.
Emily’s history with youth, her appetite for cool brands and her experience both agency and client side prepared her well for her new and current at Beats by Dr. Dre. As employee number one she had to build the team from the ground up, while simultaneously getting to grips with the complexities of the business and the shifting reality of the industry.

Betsy Lack

Head of Global Brand StrategySnap Inc.

Nils Leonard

FounderHalo Coffee

Just this year, Nils Leonard has teamed up with several partners—who have a long history in the coffee business—to launch Halo, a brand that is producing what it says is the world’s first fully compostable coffee capsule for home coffee machines.
Prior to this venture, as Chief Creative Officer of Grey London, Nils Leonard oversaw eight of the most profitable and awarded years in the agency’s fifty two year history. He was one of the youngest agency Chairman in the world.
In 2014, his commitment to creativity, innovation, talent and culture culminated in Grey being named D&AD’s most awarded UK agency, IPA Effectiveness Agency of the Year, Campaign's Network of the Year & Direct Agency of the Year at the Big awards.
In 2015, Grey became the only agency in the world to win two Grand Prix in Cannes. Nils was voted into the Ad Age Creativity Fifty and was named the most creative person in advertising in the world by Business Insider.
2016 has already seen the agency named a Contagious Pioneer, one of only 12 agencies globally to be selected by Contagious as consistently setting the standard for excellence and innovation as well as being D&AD’s most awarded agency for the second time in 3 years.
His most recent work on the Tate Britain won the Grand Prix at the Design Week awards and picked up 15 lions at the Cannes festival of creativity.
A creative champion, agitating for change and diversity in the industry Nils is on the board of trustees of D&AD,
is in the Debrett’s 500, is listed as one The Sunday Times’ 500 most influential people in the UK and has been voted into The Hospital Club’s hClub 100 – celebrating the most influential and innovative people working in the creative industries in Great Britain today.

Jennifer Lindenauer

Chief Marketing Officer Upworthy

Jennifer is CMO, managing brand marketing and communications across both GOOD and Upworthy. Previously Lindenauer was SVP Marketing & Communications for the Guardian, where she introduced the brand to the American market and ran the communications team supporting the Guardian’s Pulitzer Prize winning series, The NSA Files, with leaked documents from Edward Snowden. Before the Guardian, Lindenauer worked as SVP at Fenton Communications, the largest global social change communications firm creating social marketing campaigns on behalf of foundations and nonprofits. While at Fenton, she built an advertising network of top-notch creative talent dedicated to progressive change during the 2008 election. Previously, Lindenauer was Communications Director for MoveOn.org where she went toe-to-toe with Karl Rove on several occasions. She got her start in politics working for state, local and national campaigns in Washington state, Colorado, Michigan and Washington DC. Lindenauer lives in Brooklyn with her partner, son and Darwin the Dog.

Fernando Machado

Senior Vice President Global Brand ManagementBurger King

Fernando joined Burger King in 2014 after spending 18 years in Unilever. Awarded as Grand Brand Genius by Adweek and as International Marketer of the Year in 2013 by M&M Global, Fernando led the groundbreaking "Dove Sketches" campaign. At Burger King, Fernando is infusing the brand with purpose, modernizing its design, and landing iconic campaigns like Proud Whopper, McWhopper and Whopper Sign. With >50 Lions, 11 Yellow Pencils (D&AD), 1 Grandy and 1 Grand Effie, Fernando believes that brands with purpose achieve long term advantage and better business results.

Jesse McMillin

VP Creative DirectorLyft

As Creative Director, Jesse McMillin is responsible for leading the creative vision for the brand as Lyft reinvents how to bring communities together through transportation. Prior to Lyft, Jesse spent seven years as Creative Director at Virgin America, where he was responsible for defining the iconic brand. From the arrival gates at Virgin America’s SFO home base to in-flight details such as beverage cups and headsets, the products of Jesse’s endless inspiration is evident throughout the Virgin America experience — both online and offline. Before joining Virgin America in 2007, Jesse was a Senior Designer at Nike’s European Headquarters in Amsterdam where he worked on sportswear and branding for the EMEA region. His background also includes time as Art Director for Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners West, a stint as a graphic designer for Levi Strauss & Co., and a variety of work in the skateboard industry as a designer and illustrator.

Marsha Meredith

Creative DirectorAesop

Marsha stepped into the role of Creative Director at Aesop in 2014, and since built up the company’s creative function in New York. Aesop was founded in Melbourne Australia in 1987 and is now a global company with a presence in 20 countries. It is known for its understated, non-conformist approach, avoiding many of the more traditional approaches to reaching its customers. Aesop has a unique company culture and values and remains committed to nurturing intelligent relationships with customers, partners and staff alike. Aesop is part of the Natura & Co group, and moved to triple line reporting in 2018 measuring against financial, environmental and social goals. Marsha is a member of the Partnerships Committee of the Aesop Foundation, a philanthropic entity which aims to support literary and culturally engaged initiatives in neighbourhoods. Prior to Aesop, Marsha and has worked largely in retail agencies in NY, London, Sydney and Cape Town. Her strong retail experience is matched by a passion for using creativity to engage with and serve communities. She has worked with the Bowery Mission in New York, and on the curation of Fabergé Big Egg Hunt, benefitting Studio in a School and The Elephant Foundation.

Debbie Millman

Named “one of the most influential designers working today” by Graphic Design USA, Debbie Millman is also an author, educator, brand strategist and host of the podcast Design Matters. As the founder and host of Design Matters, the first and longest running podcast about design, Millman has interviewed more than 250 design luminaries and cultural commentators, including Massimo Vignelli, Milton Glaser, Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Pink, Barbara Kruger, Seth Godin and more. In the 11 years since its inception, the show has garnered over a million download per year, a Cooper Hewitt National Design Award and—most recently—iTunes designated it one of the best podcasts of 2015.

Debbie’s written and visual essays have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, New York Magazine, Print Magazine, Design Observer and Fast Company. She is the author of two books of illustrated essays: Look Both Ways and Self-Portrait As Your Traitor; the later of which has been awarded a Gold Mobius, a Print Typography Award, and a medal from the Art Directors Club. Her artwork has been exhibited at the Boston Biennale, Chicago Design Museum, Anderson University, School of Visual Arts, Long Island University, The Wolfsonion Museum and the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art. She has been artist-in- residence at Cranbrook University, Old Dominion University and Notre Dame University, and has conducted visual storytelling workshops at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, the University of Utah, Hartford University, Albuquerque Academy and the High School of Art and Design in New York. She has designed campaign buttons for Hillary Clinton, wrapping paper and beach towels for One Kings Lane, greeting cards for Mohawk, MOO and Card-To- Art, playing cards for DeckStarter, notebooks for Shutterstock and Baron Fig, and T-shirts for Within The Fold.

Debbie is the author of six books, including two collections of interviews that have extended the ethos and editorial vision of Design Matters to the printed page: How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer and Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits. Both books have been published in over 10 languages. In 2009 Debbie co-founded with Steven Heller the world’s first graduate program in branding at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Now in its seventh year, the program has achieved international acclaim. The inaugural class wrote and designed the Rockport book Brand Bible: The Complete Guide to Building, Designing and Sustaining Brands, in 2013 the students created branding for the Museum of Modern Art’s retail program, Destination: New York, the class of 2015 worked to reposition a Kappa Middle School in Harlem and the class of 2016 rebranded Mariska Hargitay’s Joyful Heart Foundation.

Debbie was the President of the design group at Sterling Brands for twenty years, where she worked with over 200 of the world’s largest brands, including the redesign of Burger King, merchandising for Star Wars and the positioning and branding of the No More movement. She is also President Emeritus of AIGA, one of five women to hold the position in the organization’s 100-year history and a past board member and treasurer of the New York Chapter. She is a frequent speaker on design and branding and has moderated Design Yatra in India, presented keynote lectures at Rotman School of Management, Princeton University, Michigan Modern, the Hong Kong Design Association, the Melbourne Writers Festival, Design Thinkers in Toronto, the Festival of Art and Design in Barcelona, Webstock in New Zealand, QVED in Munich and many more. She has been a juror for competitions including Cannes Lions, The Clio’s, The Art Directors Club, The Type Directors Club, Fast Company, HOW Magazine, Print Magazine, ID Magazine, AIGA, The Dieline, and more. Currently, Debbie is the Editorial and Creative Director of Print Magazine, the oldest magazine about design in the United States.

Sarah Moffat

Executive Creative DirectorTurner Duckworth

Sarah has been with Turner Duckworth for 20 years. Originally starting in our London studio, she left behind the gray skies of England for sunny California, where as Executive Creative Director she oversees the San Francisco and New York studios. Her award-winning brand experience includes: Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Levi Strauss, Metallica, Virgin Atlantic, Waitrose and The Royal Mail. Sarah seeks out opportunity in every challenge, regardless of scale. She has judged and adjudicated many things from One Show, Clios and D&AD to Knobbly Knees and Who Wore it Best.

Jim Moriarty

Director of Brand Citizenship72andSunny

At 72andSunny, brand citizenship is a practice of creating value for society and building businesses at the same time. Jim believes these aims are mutually beneficial and necessary for a modern business to thrive. He’s passionate about building brand armies and fueling movements that go deeper with fans. His previous gig was at the helm of Surfrider Foundation, the largest group of coastal activists on the planet. When not working, he advances the art of waterproof sculpture, he’s six boards into a side gig as surfboard shaper.

Jennifer Morris

PresidentConservation International

As President, Jennifer Morris provides strategic leadership and is responsible for delivery of the organization’s programs. She previously served as CI’s chief operating officer.

With 20 years of experience in international conservation and economic development, Jennifer has created and implemented cutting-edge initiatives working with diverse partners — from indigenous communities to multinational corporations — to achieve CI’s mission of protecting nature for the well-being of humanity.

This includes oversight and direction for the Global Conservation Fund, which has helped protect more than 80 million hectares (197 million acres) around the world, invested US$ 66 million and generated more than US$ 1 million in wages for local economies, and CI’s Verde Ventures program, whose business partners today employ nearly 60,000 local people in 14 countries and protection and restoration of more than half a million hectares (1.2 million acres) of important lands.

Prior to joining CI in 1997, Jennifer was a business development consultant with a micro-finance institution and has lived and worked in Japan, Namibia and Bolivia. She serves on the boards of several organizations including the SEED Initiative, the Conservation Strategy Fund and the Natural Capital Coalition. She is a frequent presenter at international conferences, corporate events and universities on issues related to conservation finance, corporate engagement and social impact investing.

Jennifer has a master’s degree in international affairs with a focus on business development and micro-finance from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Emory University. She currently lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and daughter.

PJ Pereira

Founder & Creative ChairmanPereira O'Dell

PJ Pereira is the Founder and Creative Chairman of Pereira O’Dell and served as the 2017 Jury President for Cannes Lions Entertainment. He is an advertising and entertainment pioneer who believes agencies have to provide return not only on the money brands are investing but also the time consumers are spending with the work. That balance is the ultimate challenge marketing faces today.

In 2016, Pereira O'Dell was behind the rare participation of a brand in the prestigious “Official Selection” of Sundance Film Festival with NETSCOUT and Werner Herzog's "Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World". The film was named in Esquire Magazine’s “Top 10 Best Non-Fiction Films”.

His agency is credited with the creation of the first-ever social film (“The Inside Experience”) for Intel and Toshiba in 2011, which combined Hollywood talent content with social media participation); and surpassed by the triple Cannes Grand Prix winner “The Beauty Inside”, also for Intel and Toshiba, which is now being turned into a major feature film starring Emilia Clarke. “The Beauty Inside” was the first piece of advertising to win an Emmy against regular TV programming.

With strong roots in digital and content, his milestones in the field also include a feature film for Red Bull titled “Unflinching Triumph”, which in 2007 was named by Sports Illustrated as the “Most Amusing Sports Parody of the Year”.

Beyond advertising, Brazilian-born PJ Pereira is also a best-selling novelist. In 2015, his book trilogy "Gods of Both Worlds" spent a month as the #1 novel by a Brazilian author in his native country and was published in 5 other countries. In April 2017, he launched in Brazil his fourth novel "The mother, the daughter and the lady's spirit" (A mãe, a filha e o espírito da santa). He has two kung-fu black belts and is working on a karate one too.

His credentials in content, digital and advertising have made him one of the world's most influential and respected creatives. He was named the Top CCO in ADWEEK’s “Creative 100”, "Creativity 50" and is a Board Member of the Ad Council in the US. Most recently, PJ was included in the 4A’s “100 People Who Make Advertising Great”.

Chrysi Philalithes

Recognized in The Guardian as a ’50 Women to Watch’ and the #Inspire100 list, Chrysi is a marketing, communications & digital executive with an entrepreneurial approach. Since 2009 she has run digital for (RED) – Bono & Bobby Shriver’s AIDS organization that has raised over $465MM through creative partnerships with the world’s most iconic brands including Apple, Bank of America, Starbucks and Coca-Cola.

Chrysi has helped create digital first marketing moments including Apple’s ‘Apps for (RED)’ and ‘Games for (RED)’ an App Store takeover in 155 markets, Snapchat’s first global filter for good raising $3MM, turning Twitter (RED) – literally and (RED) is the first non-profit with over 1MM on both Facebook and Twitter.

As (RED)’s first Chief Digital Officer her digital mantra – in 140 characters – is: “Dialogue not monologue. Empowering not excluding. Participation not promotion. Inspiring not forcing. Innovating not following.”

Prior to (RED) Chrysi was a founding member and VP Global Marketing & Communications of Espotting, Europe’s first search marketing network that she grew to 250 people across 8 markets before selling for $200MM and she was Managing Director of Steak NY which sold to Dentsu.

She is an investor in Student.com and BeautyCon Media, an advisor to School of Doodle, WIE and Station to Station – a train that crossed America creating art and music from Giorgio Moroder, Beck & more.

Deklah Polansky

Partner & Creative Directorstudio’farrell

Ms. Polansky is a passionate evangelist for excellence in design and love of detail at every consumer touchpoint.

She is a designer grounded in craft, fashion, retail, and cultural trends, all informed by mass and high-end consumer demographics, connecting design to business.

After graduating from the School of Visual Arts NYC, Deklah began her career as a graphic designer at The Arnell-Group, developing print and out-door advertising for Fila Sport. She followed this with 9 years as Design Director at MTV where she built a team for licensing and launched a successful brand extension that was rapidly adopted by teens and young adults from New York to New Delhi.

After a period at Wolff-Ollins she joined Coca-Cola Global in early 2007 with a mandate to elevate the design quality of their licensed merchandise and retail experiences. She spent a decade creating new relevancy for one of the world’s most iconic brands by linking compelling and innovative design solutions to the growth and profitability of CC Retail Licensing.

From Colette to Disney, Deklah designs holistic environments and products that capture a brand’s personality in a way that emotionally connects to both loyalists and younger newcomers.

Julia Porter Plowman

Managing DirectorMALFOR\GOOD

Julia is the definition of change-maker. She sets Media Arts Lab\FOR GOOD’s vision, taking brands into new, unchartered depths of social and cultural relevance, authenticity and activation. She created world famous, award-winning campaigns for Nike, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Old Spice, Electronic Arts and Audi while at Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Amsterdam, and Tokyo.
A decade ago, she shifted to pursue a career in social purpose and innovation, starting with the Nike Foundation, where she helped launched The Girl Effect, promoting investment in adolescent girls in the developing world to break cyclical poverty. After Nike, Julia’s trajectory led from Chief Operating Officer of the women’s leadership non-profit World Pulse to Managing Director of the social innovation design startup Context Partners, working closely with consumer brands and foundations including the Vulcan, John D. Rockefeller Foundation, David and Lucille Packard Foundation, Walton Foundation, the Knight Foundation and Ecotrust.
Before joining MFG, Julia was Director of Integration and Communications at Providence Health & Services, the third-largest not-for-profit health system in the country. Julia's superpower is her heart, and her optimism. She cares deeply about people, bringing out their best and bringing communities together to make a difference.
Julia graduated from Wellesley College where she was Senior Class President. She serves on the Board of Directors for The International School and Sseko Designs. She lives with her husband, two children and a guinea pig. She likes to rock out at family discos, host pirate dinners and call the Razorbacks.

Raja Rajamannar

Chief Marketing & Communications OfficerMastercard

Raja Rajamannar is Chief Marketing & Communications Officer of Mastercard and President of its Healthcare business. He is responsible for building the Mastercard brand, driving business and advancing sustainable competitive edge for the company.
Mr. Rajamannar joined Mastercard in 2013, bringing with him more than 25 years of extensive experience as a global executive managing large P&Ls, as well as business transformation and innovation for companies in multiple industries including consumer products, financial services and healthcare. Since joining the company, he has overseen the successful rebranding of Mastercard in 2016 – the organization’s first major rebrand effort in 20 years. Furthermore, Mr. Rajamannar led the integration of both Marketing and Communications to create one global integrated function. He is passionate about evolving both contemporary and classical marketing and communications skillsets to future proof the workforce.
Prior to Mastercard, Mr. Rajamannar served as Chief Transformation Officer of the health insurance firm Anthem (formerly WellPoint). He helped craft the company’s new business direction and strategy, managed its $11 billion Medicare Advantage business and led its $5 billion acquisition of Amerigroup. He had also served as Chief Executive, international and Chief Innovation & Marketing Officer at Humana.

Earlier, Mr. Rajamannar held a number of leadership roles during 15 years with Citigroup including Global Chief Marketing Officer, Cards and Payments and Chairman and CEO, Diners Club North America. He has held senior executive leadership positions all over the globe – in North America, Europe, Asia and MEA. Before that, he spent seven years with Unilever in sales and product management roles. He began his career with Asian Paints in India.
Mr. Rajamannar has been globally recognized for the innovative thinking and leadership in business transformation he has brought to executive roles across industries. He has been named one of the “World’s Most Influential CMOs” by Forbes magazine twice, ranking #9 on the publication’s list in 2017. He has also been included in the Top 25 of iMedia’s Top Digital Innovators in the world and has been featured numerous times in the Billboard Power 100, an annual ranking of executive excellence and influence in the music industry. AdWeek has named him as one of the “Top 50 Most Tech Savvy CMOs in the World” and one of the “Top 50 CMOs Leading Charge to Transformation”. Recently he was also named one of the “World’s Most Innovation CMOs” by Business Insider. In addition, Mr. Rajamannar has been a featured speaker several times at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He also holds a patent in the consumer packaged goods space.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of PPL Corporation, a Fortune 500 power generation and utilities company and Cintrifuse, a Cincinnati-based public/private startup catalyst organization. He serves on the boards of the Ad Council, the Association of National Advertisers and the New York City Ballet.
Mr. Rajamannar received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Indian Institute of Management, in Bangalore, India, and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India.

Sandra Ro

CEOGlobal Blockchain Business Council

Sandra is a fintech entrepreneur, blockchain / crypto keynote speaker, hackathon judge, crypto trader, angel investor and advisor, focusing on delivering financial access and products to people and communities using technology to enable next generation market infrastructure and financial products.

Sandra was named to the Innovate Finance, Women in Fintech 2016 Power List and holds directorships / founding memberships on several industry boards as well as advises several emerging tech start-ups. Recently, Sandra joined the US Department of State’s Speakers Bureau as a blockchain technology speaker. Previously, she served as a former Treasurer and founding board director of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) and founding member of the Post Trade Distributed Ledger Group (PTDL), founding member of Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger. Sandra has published numerous articles on blockchain as well as foreign exchange markets and patents across capital markets and digital assets.

She is the former Executive Director, Head of Digitization at CME Group. Sandra founded and was responsible for the firm’s digital assets and blockchain / distributed ledger technology (DLT) initiatives, including CME bitcoin futures and index pricing prices. Previously as Head of Foreign Exchange (FX) and Metals Research and Product Development, she was responsible for the global development of CME Group’s FX and Metals solutions for listed and cleared OTC products.

Prior to joining CME Group’s London office in 2011, Sandra led deals in the EMEA M&A FX and interest rate derivatives, event driven advisory group within Global Capital Markets at Morgan Stanley London and worked at Deutsche Bank London as a FX structurer.

Sandra holds an M.B.A. in Finance from London Business School, studied Computer Science at Columbia University School of Continuing Education, and received a double B.A. degree in History and Studies in the Environment from Yale University.

She was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Board of the Yale Alumni Fund (YAF) in 2015, leads the Technology subcommittee, and is a Chairman’s Award recipient (2015). She advises and supports several women, children, education, animal conservation-focused non-profits in the USA, UK, and sub-Saharan Africa. Her life’s passion is to create a transparent, fairer world using technology.

At Global Blockchain Business Council, Sandra was voted to CEO from founding Board member in March 2018. She serves the GBBC and blockchain community to foster education and build bridges across enterprises, governments, and start-ups to help fulfill the potential of blockchain technology to solve real world problems and help society.

Tiffany Rolfe

Chief Content Officerco:collective

Tiffany Rolfe is a partner and Chief Content Officer at co:collective, leading their content strategy and brand publishing practice, The Pub. The Pub facilitates purposeful partnerships between brands and creators to create content and experiences that build loyal communities.

Prior to co:collective she was Executive Creative Director/VP at Crispin Porter +Bogusky. During her ten years there, the agency grew from 100 people to 1000 and became one of the most awarded agencies of the decade. There, Tiffany lead and created business-changing work for clients such as MINI Cooper, American Express OPEN, Truth, Virgin Atlantic, VW, Bolthouse Farms Baby Carrots, Ikea, Burger King, Microsoft, Old Navy, and Grey Poupon.

Tiffany’s work has been featured on the cover of the New York Times, in the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Advertising Age, Adweek, and more. She has judged and received top awards at every major creative and effectiveness competition in the industry, including Best of show at One Show, a Grand Clio, and the Grand Prix and Titanium Lion at Cannes. Tiffany was featured in Adweek’s “Young Ones,” and she was named one of Advertising Age’s “Women to Watch.”

Claudia Romo Edelman

Special Adviser, Chief of Global Public AdvocacyUNICEF

Claudia is a Special Adviser for UNICEF and also UNICEF’s Global Chief of Public Advocacy. Previously she was seconded to the Executive Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations, to lead communications for the Special Adviser on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change.

Claudia is a Mexican-Swiss Diplomat who recently moved to New York and is a member of the Board of Bank Street College and the Ad Council. Claudia has led PR, brand and marketing for some of the world's biggest global organizations including the World Economic Forum, the UN Refugee Agency and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria; while being a marketing professor of the University of Geneva for the MBA with specialization in International Organizations, IOMBA, and has a couple of MOOCs marketing courses in Coursera. Claudia holds degrees on Communications and Philosophy as well as a Masters on political communications from the London School of Economics.

Claudia is a frequent public speaker, speaks 6 languages, enjoys extreme sports, travelling and has two children.

Janet Scardino

CEOComic Relief USA

Janet Scardino is a creative media executive who has grown successful television, mobile and online businesses in the US and internationally. A general manager and accomplished brand marketer, she has launched and operated multi-platform businesses for some of the world's most recognized media brands, including MTV, Disney Channel, AOL, Reuters and American Idol.

Janet loves start-ups and has spearheaded over ten new businesses, including Viggle, the first entertainment marketing and rewards platform, where she was CEO. She is currently launching the non-profit Comic Relief in the US. As their first CEO, she is charged with introducing the British cultural phenomenon Red Nose Day in America.

Janet studied at Emerson College in Boston, where she graduated with honors and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communications and Television Production. She was honored by The Girl Scouts, received a Highest Leaf Award by The Women's Venture Fund, and was recognized with an Irma Mann Distinguished Speaker Award. Janet and her husband live in NYC.

William Seabrook

Global Chief Creative OfficerIBM

Billy has over 20 years of experience creating innovative brand strategies and omni-channel customer experiences for leading brands in the automotive, CPG, financial services, retail, technology, and travel industries.

Prior to joining IBM iX in 2017, Billy worked with Manulife/John Hancock to implement a new internal agency model optimized to deliver better quality work at scale while also managing the day-to-day activities of the global creative team. Prior to that, he served as the Global Head of Design for Citi where he was tasked with building and leading a global network of internal design studios and external agencies. In a short period of time, Billy opened new studios in NYC and Singapore, introduced new methodologies for customer-centric strategy, design thinking, and agile development, and was a founding member of Citi FinTech.

Prior to joining Citi, Billy served as the Global Chief Creative Officer for eBay Enterprise – the consulting and agency services division of eBay Inc. During his time there, he led a diverse team of marketing creatives, customer experience designers, and original content creators to deliver commerce solutions that drove engagement, transaction, and loyalty. He was also a member of the eBay Inc. Design Advisory Board, led by John Maeda, focused on activating Design Thinking principles across the organization.

Before eBay, Billy spent eight years at Digitas where he held the role of SVP, Executive Creative Director for the Atlanta, CT, and NYC offices and Mobile Practice Lead for North America working on a variety of integrated marketing platforms and digital vision assignments.

He spent his formative years learning from the best at DDB, FCBi and NW Ayer. Billy is a digital native who strives to discover the unique intersections between art, science, commerce, and storytelling. He has won numerous awards for his distinctive work and enjoys developing disruptive ideas that have lasting impact. He resides in Connecticut with his wife and two children and works at 51 Astor Place in New York City.

Jimmy Smith

Chairman, CEO, CCOAmusement Park Universe

There's this old school funk-a-teer and bassist named Bootsy Collins. He started playing with James Brown when he was just 15-years-old, and then he went on to join George Clinton in Parliament-Funkadelic. It's highly unlikely there is a major rap artist alive or dead who hasn't sampled something with Bootsy's licks in it.

Anyway, Boot is like an uncle to me, and he lives by this saying, "Spreading hope like dope."
I try to live by Boot's saying, too.
Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mM527yJ3K8
Godspeed

Emad Tahtouh

Managing DirectorNAKATOMI

Bill Tai

Venture Capitalist, Educator & Athlete

Bill Tai has been funding startups as a VC since 1991, and is a leading figure in the Blockchain segment. He is a Board Director / Strategy Chair of the Board at Bitfury, and Board Chairman of Hut8, North America's largest crypto mining operation. His co-created the annual Blockchain Summit on Necker Island in 2014, holds the title "Yoda" at Airswap, Board Advisor to P2P Energy Company Power Ledger, the first ever Australian company to hold an ICO, and is an investor and advisor to Blockchain based startups including Airswap, Gamma, BlockSeer and fund SparkChain Capital. His interest in cryptocurrency began in 2001 as a contributor to the creation of the currency in SecondLife and accelerated when he lit up his first Bitcoin Miner in 2009.

Originally trained as a chip designer, he joined LSI Logic, a seminal Silicon Valley startup formed by the CEO of Fairchild Semiconductor after earning a BSEE with Honors from University of Illinois. After an MBA at Harvard he was issued Badge #A001 during the formation of TSMC (NYSE:TSM), now among the 20 most valuable technology companies in the world. Currently he is co-founder Chairman of Treasure Data; Board Member of BitFury, Hut8, and Voxer and a lead seed investor in Canva, Color Genomics, Safety Culture, Tweetdeck/Twitter, Wish.com and Zoom Video. He was Founding Chairman & CEO of iAsiaWorks (IPO via Goldman Sachs & Morgan Stanley) and Founding Chairman of IPinfusion (Tokyo:4813) and is Founding Chairman of Treasure Data. He has served as Board Director of 7 publicly listed companies (AWRD EGHT IAWK NPIX TMTA TUNE and IMGO) that grew from startups he funded at their formative stages. He serves on the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneer Committee and is an Adjunct Professor of Innovation at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. He is co-founder of ACTAI Global a 501(c)3 dedicated to preserving the ocean and its related ecosystems.

Kwame Taylor-Hayford

Managing DirectorChobani

Kwame is the Managing Director of the Brand Development team at Chobani, a New York based food focused wellness brand. There he is responsible for architecting, along with the CMO and CCO, a cutting-edge marketing discipline that generates demand and grows the brand through advertising, digital innovation, creative partnerships and experiential.

As a digital native, Kwame uses the creative potential of new and emerging media to engage consumers and create community. Prior to joining Chobani in 2016, Kwame was a partner at advertising agency Sid Lee, where he led key clients including Apple, Facebook, Stella Artois and Adidas on creative production, experiential and technology initiatives globally. Earlier in his career, Kwame led production for Anomaly and Saatchi & Saatchi in New York. He also worked at TBWA\Media Arts Lab on global campaigns for Apple. Notable projects include Apple’s Mac vs. PC campaign; selected as Adweek Campaign of the Decade, and Uniqlo Recipe; selected as one of the Best Apps of 2013 by the App Store.

Kwame's work with clients has been recognized by leading advertising organizations Cannes, D&AD, One Show, EFFIE, Webbys and CLIO. Kwame is also a Co-Founder at SATURDAY MORNING, an organization that helps promote peace, generates love, raises awareness of injustice and fights for fairness to create change and understanding between all races.

KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz

CEO and FounderSustainable Brands

KoAnn is Founder and Chief Executive of Sustainable Life Media, producers and conveners of the international Sustainable Brands community. Prior to launching Sustainable Life Media in 2004, KoAnn founded and lead a boutique management consultancy called Organizations That Work, focusing on helping enable breakthrough financial performance through purpose-driven leadership and improved organizational alignment.

Prior to that she worked for 18 years in business to business media where she served in positions of increasing responsibility launching and leading media properties including magazines, conferences, trade shows and more for a wide range of markets, starting with natural resources (timber, paper, and mining, and ending with a variety of emerging technology sectors including digital video, computer game development and the web.

During her tenure she garnered extensive experience in launching and growing countless product brands, as well as defining a corporate brand strategy and integrating it with a global product brand portfolio spanning many market sectors. She completed her media tenure as Senior Vice President of a multinational division of United Business Media, overseeing a $50 million division with 150 person team.

Susan Waldman

CMOMeals on Wheels America

Susan joined Meals on Wheels America as Chief Marketing and Communications Officer in June 2013. There she spearheaded a national rebranding effort, the launch and ongoing management of the Ad Council PSA volunteer recruitment campaign (America, Let’s Do Lunch which has earned $54 mil in media and generated 90,000 new volunteers in 1.5 years), the launch and management of the advocacy campaign (#SaveLunch which inspired public messages to 98% of Congress members and supported a FY2018 increase in funding) and the planning and implementation of all public-facing, Hill-facing, donor-facing, industry-facing and member-facing communications.

Previously, Susan served as co-founder and Director of Strategic Services for FORGE Branding, where her clients included the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the National Audubon Society and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Susan also served as the branding columnist for the Washington Post, and Founder and President of SLW Strategic Services, serving clients that included Discovery Networks, CapitalOne, Department of Homeland Security and Verizon. Other positions included Director of Advertising for Northwest Airlines, Senior Marketing Planner heading up national advertising for Walt Disney World, and Assistant Vice President of Marketing for American Security Bank, now part of the Bank of America system.

Susan graduated with a B.A. in Marketing from Michigan State University. She also served as a Senior Fellow for the University of Maryland's James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership and is certified in the implementation of the Barrett Values Centre Cultural Assessment Tools.

Freya Williams

CEO North AmericaFuterra

E. Freya Williams is the CEO of Futerra North America and author of Green Giants: How Smart Companies Turn Sustainability into Billion Dollar Businesses.
Freya has spent the past decade working to help move sustainable business, behaviors and brands into the mainstream. Co-founder of OgilvyEarth and former lead of Edelman’s Business + Social Purpose practice in New York, today Freya is the North American CEO of Futerra, the global sustainability change agency.

She has advised organizations including Coca Cola, H&M, Unilever, the United Nations, Waste Management and many others on how to convert sustainability and social good into competitive advantage for their business and brands. She lives in New York with her husband and two children.

Haiyan Zhang

Innovation DirectorMicrosoft Research

Haiyan Zhang is Innovation Director at Microsoft Research, Cambridge, creating cutting-edge technology to enable innovative new experiences in play and wellness. She is also an inventor appearing on the BBC documentary, Big Life Fix.

Haiyan was formerly Innovation Director at Xbox Studios, and Co-Founder & Design Lead for the innovation platform, OpenIDEO. At the design consultancy, IDEO, Haiyan created innovative tech experiences for community building, entertainment and financial services and worked with leading video game makers on research and ideas for new play experiences.

Haiyan’s work is informed by her background as a software engineer and user interface designer creating applications for the biomedical and data-mining industries. As part of a team of software developers from Excel Tech in Canada, she created an electroencephalograph (EEG) visualisation tool for intra-operative monitoring, which is currently being used in hospitals across North America.